KANSAS CITY — The FBI has once again requested records from Independence City Hall, the latest in a series of inquiries by federal authorities over the last year that appear to be focused on a pair of utilities contracts and medical marijuana regulations.
Late last month, the FBI asked the city to provide coordinate maps of neighborhood boundaries within city council districts.
The request, which The Kansas City Star obtained through its own open records request, adds to a set of recent demands from federal law enforcement.
In March, the city received a  seeking records of non-public meetings of the Independence City Council and a  for minutes of specific council meetings.
In May, the FBI asked for receipts submitted by four members of the Independence City Council for reimbursement
The FBI doesn’t confirm or deny the existence of investigations, and a spokeswoman on Friday declined comment on the latest records request.
The ongoing federal inquiry comes at a time of transition in Independence politics. Voters recently ousted two long-standing members of the city council who were supportive of projects that appear to be under FBI scrutiny — Curt Dougherty and Tom Van Camp.
Brice Stewart, who defeated Dougherty last month for the district 2 council seat, said he hopes the FBI investigation ends soon.
“If things were done wrong then there need to be consequences,†he said. “And if not, it just needs to go away. It’s kind of like a cloud hanging over the city. But I know the FBI takes their time.â€
“I’d like it to be done and over with so that cloud of suspicion can be gone.â€
Utilities and marijuana
The Independence City Council in 2017 awarded Environmental Operations, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ company, the contract to tear down a power plant in Missouri City that Independence Power and Light was no longer using.
The contract was immediately controversial since Environmental Operations got the job with a $9.75 million bid, more than twice that of the other bidder.
Environmental Operations’ owner, , is well connected in Missouri politics. His general counsel is , a former Missouri House speaker who resigned in 2015 after The Star revealed his .
And Hastie has a long history with Steve Tilley, another former House speaker and .
Tilley is paid $120,000 a year to lobby on behalf of Independence Power and Light.
The same year Environmental Operations won the Missouri City contract, the council also agreed to . The plan was to build a solar farm in a joint venture with Gardner Capital, a Springfield private equity firm that also employs Tilley as its lobbyist.
The golf club was purchased from a Kansas-based investment firm called Titan Fish, which bought the property just a few months earlier for $550,000.
In August 2019, Titan Fish hired Tilley as its lobbyist.
Days before the vote, Independence Mayor Eileen Weir received  and funded by Gardner Capital.
Last summer, the city enacted zoning regulations for marijuana dispensaries that exceeded state restrictions. The state allows cities to limit dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare or church.
The council voted to further restrict marijuana businesses within the historic district; within 1,200 feet of Truman Library; with 500 feet of a neighborhood or residence; and within 2,500 feed of another dispensary.
The regulations became the focus of a lawsuit before .
But before they were rescinded they also fueled questions by the FBI, with one marijuana advocate in Independence telling The Star that agents asked her whether there  pushing the restrictions.
Starting last fall, the FBI began interviewing local officials and city staff, with the subpoena and records requests following in the spring. Those involved in the council votes have long denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services late last year . The identity of those applicants was redacted from the copy of the subpoena obtained by The Star.
FBI agents have also  in Jefferson City about Tilley’s connections to the medical marijuana industry.
Tilley did not respond to a request for comment.
Hastie said in an email to The Star that his company is “generally aware of inquiries into multiple transactions involving the City of Independence.â€
“This was an arms-length transaction that lasted nearly 18 months of public process,†he said of his company’s contract with Independence. “We will fully cooperate with the authorities as necessary. Given the nature of this matter, we will not be providing any further comment or information to The Kansas City Star but rather address any concerns through proper channels.â€
‘Pieces of the puzzle’
Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney from Michigan who oversaw the prosecution of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on public corruption charges, said that from the outside it is impossible to know the true scope of the FBI’s inquiry.
“You are seeing a few pieces of the puzzle,†McQuade said, “so it’s hard to know what the whole picture is.â€
She can’t speculate on why the FBI might want the council district maps, she said, although it is clear that for some reason “it sounds like it matters precisely where the lines are drawn.â€
One possible clue as to the significance of the coordinate maps: Records recently obtained by The Star show the state appears to use the same mapping data to verify that marijuana dispensaries are abiding by school, daycare and church distance requirements.
The maps in question are already available to the public online, but McQuade said that would be considered hearsay in court. The FBI requests official copies, she said, so that they can be used as evidence if charges are eventually filed.
“It’s not for information purposes,†she said, “it’s for evidentiary purposes.â€
Luke Hunt, a former FBI agent who teaches jurisprudence and criminal law at the University of Alabama, said it is impossible to know how far along the FBI is in any investigation it may be involved in.
“It’s not surprising,†he said, “to have a public corruption or white collar investigation take several years. They are going to move at their own pace, so it’s difficult to know what their time frame might be.â€